Blog Archives
Change Your Twitter Password Recommended
Twitter said that its data has not been breached, and LeakedSource explained that Twitter user credentials and passwords might have been gotten from browsers that store passwords. The full story is on Time.
“In a blog post, LeakedSource said the dataset included passwords from people who had signed up to Twitter as recently as 2014, but the passwords had been stored in “plaintext,” with no attempt to encrypt them. In line with being a large, prominent web firm, Twitter isn’t so careless with its customers’ data.”
The article goes on to explain that passwords might have been obtained when people allow their browser to keep track of their passwords.
Most of the Twitter data seemed to be from accounts in Russia, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Twitter Class Action Lawsuits
If you or someone you know is a resident of the State of California as of October 27, 2015, and had a Twitter account on or before November 2009, you might want to know the following.
Twitter has been sued, and agreed to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that it violated user’s privacy rights by disclosing the full names provided by users without warning. The lawsuit also alleges that Twitter shared users’ public tweets and public profile information with third parties without providing adequate disclosure, and by failing to adequately inform its users that their tweets would be public by default.
The class action lawsuit was filed by a former Twitter user who opened an account in September 2009. The plaintiff, known as Jane Doe, alleges breach of contract, invasion of privacy, wrongful publication of private facts, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, misappropriate, and violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Unfair Competition Law. The lawsuit is captioned Jane Doe v. Twitter Inc., et al., Case No. CGC-10-503630, and is filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco. Read the rest of this entry
Happy Holidays – Open Discussion
Caterpillars, moths, butterflies, and all creatures great and small,
Happy holidays to everyone!
May you have peace and joy in your heart and household. May your every step leave a footprint of love and kindness, and may your life be filled with blessings.
I’m taking a break from posting articles but will still no doubt post comments. With personal business and the holidays, it means more to do in less time to get it done. You can post your thoughts, news, and whatever is on your mind on this thread. It will probably run until after the 25th.
For blogging, it’s been a good and bad year. It was very hard keeping up with deaths. There are so many killed by gun violence, and by law enforcement, that I can barely memorize one name before there is another name. The media reports in so many bits and pieces that I seldom blog about specific cases unless it is announced that an investigation has completed, or a person charged.
There are some hard working bloggers who do keep up with each little bit, and I generally tweet out links to their posts. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @XenaBb7. My account is protected; not because I tweet out confidential information or great secrets of the universe, but as a good-faith attempt to prevent internet extortionists from engaging me. There’s too much to do; too much to learn; too much to discuss here, so I choose to avoid Twitter drama as much as possible.
Keeping with our tradition, we’re looking to cover trials in the coming year. If anyone has ideas, throw them our way.
By the way, I heard from Kindheart who said for me to tell everyone “hello.” She has not been online in months and does not plan to return. Keep her in your thoughts and if you’re a praying person, in your prayers.
See you in the comment section.
Open Discussion – Potpourri – December 3, 2015
Caterpillars, moths, butterflies, and all creatures great and small;
There is lots of news.
This afternoon, officials began identifying the 14 victims of the San Bernardino mass shooting. The Huffington Post has posted the information. One victim leaves behind 6 children.
The New York Times is keeping a running format on investigation updates.
Also this afternoon, Twitter suspended George Zimmerman’s account. It appears that he was in a relationship with a woman in Kentucky, and they broke up. Zimmerman went on a revenge-porn campaign, posting nude photos of her on Twitter along with her address and phone number. The Daily Dot has screenshots and the story.
ACLU Intervenes In Case Involving Disclosure of Personal Information
This morning, Victor Blackwell of CNN, (@VictorCNN), tweeted that the ACLU has submitted a brief in the Kendrick Johnson case. They have taken a friend of the court position pertaining to the disclosure of the identity of 23 Twitter handles and cites First Amendment and privacy.
It’s actually the civil case filed by Kendrick’s parents for wrongful death. The Bell family responded with a counter-suit, alleging defamation. In their counter-claim, they allege that Kendrick’s mom used “authorized agents” to defame them on social media.
On November 2, 2015, I wrote in a post that people had been notified by Twitter that their account information had been subpoenaed in the Johnson v. Bell case. The Department of Justice filed a motion to intervene and a motion to stay discovery for 180 days pending completion of their investigation. The DOJ has extended their investigation into witness tampering and obstruction. The court denied the DOJ’s motions.
Also reported in that post is that a person who is a known internet harasser and extortionist tweeted to several individuals that their Twitter account information had been subpoenaed, and he did so days before Twitter notified those individuals. It’s the same person that one of our (as of Nov. 23, 2015, form writer) Santiago, has a restraining order against and is currently in court in a contempt proceeding, alleging violation of that restraining order. Read the rest of this entry
Couple Charged With Sexual Assault Wins Internet Defamation Lawsuit
A Texas couple, Mark Lesher, 63, and his wife, Rhonda, 50, were accused by a woman of sexual assault. Mark Lesher is a prominent attorney, and Rhonda was running a successful day spa. The accusation included a man who works on the Lesher’s ranch. Before they stood trial in January 2009, there was a steady stream of attacks on the Web forum Topix.com. The comments accused the couple of murder, encouraging pedophilia, drug abuse and other crimes that materially attack their characters.
In January 2009, the couple and their ranch hand were found not guilty on all charges.
Three years ago, the couple filed a 365-page lawsuit naming 178 pseudonyms used to post what they considered the most defamatory messages. They posted the lawsuit on Topix and served the company a subpoena to obtain the IP addresses. A Texas judge ordered Topix to turn over the identifying information about the anonymous posters. The Internet Protocol (IP) addresses led to a couple that owned a business, and accused the Lesher’s of sexual assault in 2008.
In July 2009, the Leshers filed an amended petition in the District Court of Tarrant County, Texas naming Shannon Coyel, the couple’s accuser; her husband Gerald Covel and his brother, James Coyel. Also named as a defendant was Apache Truck & Van Parts of Kennedale, Texas and two of its employers, Charlie and Pat Doescher.
Mark and Rhonda Lesher stand on the steps of Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, shortly after their acquittal of sexual assault charges Jan. 16, 2009.
On Friday, a jury awarded the Leshers a judgment of $13.78 million.
Mark and Rhonda Lesher stand on the steps of Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, shortly after their acquittal of sexual assault charges Jan. 16, 2009. On Friday, the couple were awarded
The Gazette reported a malicious prosecution suit is pending that names as defendants the Coyels and Red River County District Attorney Val Varley, who unsuccessfully prosecuted the sexual assault case against the Leshers. That suit accuses them of conspiring to convict the Leshers of a crime they did not commit. The newspaper reports that a jury trial is scheduled for August.
Ryan Calo, who teaches privacy law at Stanford Law School and is joining the faculty at the University of Washington School of Law, said
“Defamation is one area of law in which a jury or court have to figure out how much damage has been done. It’s not a car accident where you can calculate medical bills and how much work was lost after an injury. There’s something more ephemeral in a reputation.”
There is a difference between free speech, which states an opinion, and accusations stated as fact that have no basis in fact and causes harm to the personal lives of others.
There’s more on this story and other internet defamation stories on ABC News.
Woman Denies Sending Tweet Regarding Ferguson Grand Jury
On September 18, 2014, I wrote a post about Darren Wilson testifying before the St. Louis County grand jury. Darren Wilson is the Ferguson police officer who, on August 9, 2014, shot 18-year old Michael Brown 6 times, twice in the head. Witnesses say that Darren Wilson shot several times as Michael ran away and it appeared that Michael had been shot. He turned around and with his hands up in the universal position of surrender. Wilson proceeded to fire until Michael was dead.
Grand juries are presented evidence by the prosecution. The accused are not present. The job of the grand jury is to see if there is sufficient evidence to indict. It is not a trial where the accused gets to appear and defend him or herself. There are reports that St. Louis County State’s Attorney McCulloch invited Wilson to testify before the grand jury. Having no written report by Darren Wilson, the grand jury could only hear Wilson’s side of the story from his own mouth, but that is not standard procedure as the state does not (or is not suppose to) represent the accused. Read the rest of this entry
Friday Fill-Up -Standing Strong Against Cyber-Extortionists
Nothing would give me more pleasure than to share some personal things with you about myself. I’m restrained from doing so because of people who take anything I say, twist it, and then go on doxxing expeditions. Be aware – any attempts of defamation that can only point to “evidence” written by the person or one of their minions. Their evidence cannot be trusted.
Ask them how they know the name they purport is the person’s real name, and they won’t be able to point to any “evidence” other than what another one of them has written.
Well, I’m going into this because since one cyber-extortionist was unsuccessful in his copyright infringement claims, and unsuccessful in getting a court ordered restraining order against a person he harassed, numerous people are being attacked for associating together. Read the rest of this entry
Cyber-Extortionists-Beyond Cyber-Bullies
Those on Twitter may have noticed that there was an effort last week by cyber- extortionist, David Piercy, to have Word Press take down Blackbutterfly7. They have shown concern (thank you) and this is to inform everyone what took place.
David Piercy filed for a restraining order against another person, and threatened to add me to it unless I became familiar with the Word Press delete feature. Those here who read comments and those on Twitter know that I’ve never engaged that person. Although a long time ago I blacklisted his IP address using the Word Press option, he continues sending vile and racially derogatory comments to this blog.
Several weeks ago, he hacked/trespassed by submitting comments here through the California State University at Fresno’s network. Those comments did not go into moderation but posted directly to the public board. I deleted them, and blacklisted the IP address. Piercy then went on Twitter claiming that I deleted them because he proved me wrong about Lisa Bloom’s book. No – I deleted them because he trespassed. It’s not my position to ask or wonder why other bloggers allow him to come back and forth after banning him. As for me, once you come to my house throwing filth and calling me demeaning names, you’re not allowed back, PERIOD.
Zimmerman v. NBC – Motion to Dismiss
WARNING: This article contains images and words that some might find offensive.
Reading NBC’s motion to dismiss was fairly easy. Trying to make sense out of Zimmerman’s reply was not so easy.
NBC Universal has petitioned the court to dismiss Zimmerman’s lawsuit for four reasons;
(1) he has failed to comply with Florida’s retraction statute, which precludes his claims with respect to one of the five broadcasts he challenges;
(2) he is a public figure who cannot carry his burden of demonstrating, by the clear and convincing evidence required by the First Amendment, that any of NBC’s reports were broadcast with a high degree of awareness of their probable falsity, or, indeed, that they are false in any material respect;
(3) he cannot demonstrate that the NBC broadcasts caused the debilitating damages to his reputation and well-being that he claims are attributable to NBC; and
(4) he has, for these and other reasons, failed to state a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Just a few thoughts …
If the person claiming defamation names a party as defendant who was not notified to retract, that party cannot be sued. In their motion to dismiss, NBC raises a good argument on that issue. Zimmerman’s attorneys will need to petition the court for leave to file an amended complaint if they want to cure that deficiency.
It is Florida, and I am unfamiliar with most of Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure. However, when it concerns motions to dismiss or motions for summary judgment that are filed before discovery, there is a general understanding that I’ve learned. That is, if the party who did not file to dismiss the case wants to conduct discovery, it has to request the court to stay the motion to dismiss before filing a reply to the motion to dismiss.
There is also a general understanding that when responding to a motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment, that the party cannot rely on allegations in their complaint as evidence that a genuine issue of material fact exists. When a genuine issue of material fact is disputed, courts deny motions to dismiss and for summary judgment so a jury can decide the issue. Beginning around page 68, Zimmerman’s lawyers rely on his complaint as evidence that a genuine issue of material fact exists. That’s a no-no that can have that entire portion of their pleading stricken or that issue denied by the court. Yes – the court can grant in part, and deny in part.
Based on the reply filed by Zimmerman’s attorneys, they argued that they needed to conduct discovery and amend his complaint, but did not ask the court for that relief. Read the rest of this entry
Pair jailed for sending abusive tweets to feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez
From across the pond, but just goes to show what can happen when the wrong persons are threatened on Twitter.
“Crucify him!” God’s Plan and Hoodies
Regarding the tweet of Robert Zimmerman Jr. where he commented “Crucify him,” has he not read Luke 24:25-27? It was God’s plan. The Zimmerman’s, being Christian of the Roman Catholic denomination, should know this.
There is also something else we would like Junior to know from a historical view; the one crucified wore a hoodie.
We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident 